Terms of Endearment
by Moony-Blues
Summary: DG has her own identity crises as her friends distance themselves from her emotionally after the Eclipse. A set of drabbles written with their own unique form that focus on her reactions to the names and titles that people use to refer to her. NO SHIPS.
1. Princess

Terms of Endearment: Princess

"Yes, Princess."

_Princess_

She hates that word, especially from his lips. It drips with the coldness of formality, reminding her painfully of the fact that her station in the world has changed. Her eyes seek his, but she can read nothing in those ice-blue pools. She waves her dismissal before sitting again at the desk in front of piles of papers.

It amazes her how so much can change in so little time. Surely it hasn't been that long since she was running through the Outer Zone with him as her friend. Regardless of the length of time, she has changed, and so has he. A tear slips down her cheek at the remembrance of that loathsome word and its chilly indifference.

"Excuse me, Princess."

_Princess_

There it is again, this time from the man that she thought she knew, but now is so different. Brown eyes now avoid her own. No one wants to be too familiar with the long-lost princess of the Outer Zone, not even her formerly close companions who helped to raise her as a figure head…not even the one who owes his physical restoration to her. She mourns the zipper that once held his head together, mourns the half-wit that used to smile at her so earnestly and innocently.

"Better, Princess?"

_Princess_

The headache is gone with his help, but the heartache remains. Even the wild man, descended from a line of tribal kings as she found later, can't keep the edge of ceremony from his voice. She looks into his amber orbs, seeing his own pain at the formality. At least the Viewer is hurting over it as much as she is.

_Princess…Princess…Princess_

She puts her head down on her pillows at night and lets more tears escape her eyes. This isn't who she wants to be. She just wants to be DG.

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Disclaimer for the **entire** piece: Of course, I don't own it, silly! 

Author's Notes: Reviews are always welcome.


	2. Kid

Terms of Endearment: Kid

"Are you alright, Kid?"

_Kid_

Her eyes flutter open to see his face hovering over hers, concern stressing his features. For a moment she thinks that she might be back in forest, napping on his duster, waking from a nightmare. She welcomes the familiar term, something different than the cold formality of "princess."

He'll occasionally slip and call her "Kid" or "Kiddo," and she finds herself surprisingly happy for it. It doesn't bother her, because his voice warms to the friendly tone she misses. If feeling like a child meant that she was closer to him, then she will accept it gladly. And today, as he picks her up from the floor where she fainted during her dress fitting, she can almost pretend that he's her friend again.

"Where you headed, Kid?"

_Kid_

There is no warmth in his tone this time. He's angry and confused; he doesn't understand why she's turning away, why she's running to her chambers. He can't understand, and she doesn't want to try to explain it anymore. She's tired of begging for his friendship.

"Kid, open the door!"

She flings herself on the bed, which is deceptively comfortable and warm. She can almost feel his arms around her, just like the day of the eclipse. In that moment, she had known that he had finally let down his guard and accepted her friendship. Now, she feels like she'll never have it back, that simple friendship that had sustained her on that fateful day.

_Kid…Kiddo…Kid_

At least it's not "Princess," she thinks. She just doesn't hear it often enough.

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Author's Notes: Reviews are always welcome. whatever95 asked if the first chapter was a oneshot. It's not exactly a oneshot, but not exactly a multichapter fic either. Each section is going to focus on a name that someone in DG's life uses to refer to her. Sometimes, it'll be more than one person's "term of endearment," like "Princess." This one focuses on one of Cain's pet names for her. Next section: "Doll." 


	3. Doll

Terms of Endearment: Doll

"Come on, Doll!"

_Doll_

She remembers when she met him like it was yesterday, remembers him calling her 'Doll.' A smile plays at her lips as she remembers that simple, sarcastic nickname. It is a reminder of simpler days, when she may have been running for her life, but at least she felt alive. Now, she feels empty and abandoned.

His brown eyes never meet her blue ones, now. Not if he can help it. Now he just keeps them glued to the floor, or to the table. He's not the same as he once was.

"Hey there, Doll!"

_Doll_

She remembers that he still had called her that often between the Eclipse and his life-saving operation. But, he's not the same as he once was. What had been warm, liquid chocolate eyes are now distant and pale. His speech isn't the same; his mannerisms aren't the same; his demeanor isn't the same. She wants her friend, the only one who didn't change the day after the Eclipse, to come back.

"What's wrong, Doll?"

_Doll_

The sentiment is forced and hard now, lacking any warmth it may have once carried. Tears gather at the corner of her eyes as she smiles at him, telling him to "never mind." She keeps her chin from quivering and waits as he gives his report before he turns to walk out of the garden in which she's taken solitude. She hears him exchange a few words with her blond-and-blue bodyguard, warning the former Tin Man that "the Princess is moody today."

_Doll...Doll…Doll_

Damn him. She's never felt so alone in her life, and she's surrounded by people. Why did they all have to change?

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Author's Notes: Ok, the muse for this little collection has officially pulverized the one for "Brighter Days," so I'm going to have to get as many of these little drabbles done as I can, or else I won't be able to pick up the other fic. Please review if you like! 


	4. Baby Girl

Terms of Endearment: Baby Girl

"You'll always be my baby girl."

_Baby girl_

She looks at the empty shells that used to be her "parents" with a sadness that even her faithful ex-Tin Man bodyguard can feel. The technician tells her that the virus the Sorceress used on their CPU's ultimately wiped their hard drives. Her parents, the only real parents she ever knew, are gone.

'It's not fair!' She tries to stop the tears, chiding herself for crying over two crashed computers as if life was supposed to be fair, but she simply can't. Weeks of exhaustion overcome her and she buries her head into Cain's shoulder, who is suddenly at her side.

"Don't let him confuse you, baby girl!"

_Baby girl_

She sits on the edge of her bed and remembers finding him again after arriving in the Outer Zone. Another smile, now a rare occurrence, comes to her face as she remembers the life, however artificial it was, that used to shine from his eyes. She remembers him pinning her corsage on her dress before she went to her senior prom with a large group of friends who also went stag. How she misses him!

"I'm sorry, baby girl."

_Baby girl_

This time the memory chills her blood. She tries to push it out of her mind, tries to remember the kind faced man she thought was her father and not the twisted robot who had been turned against her. Fresh tears spring anew.

_Baby girl… baby girl… baby girl_

Now she's left with two people who call themselves her parents but with whom she has no connection and about whom she has practically no memory. She thinks that the nightmare is just beginning.


	5. Your Highness

Terms of Endearment: Your Highness

"Understood, Your Highness."

_Your Highness_

If she hears one more member of the Royal Guard utter those two words together, especially in reference to her, she's very likely to scream. Hell, she'll take "Princess" over "Your Highness" any day of the week. The worst offender is the son of her now conspicuously absent bodyguard. Why does everyone insist on making her into someone who's more than she is? 'I'm just DG!'

It's getting ridiculous. From the dresses and corsets to the carriages and escorts, she feels like she's losing herself in a mystique of which she never wanted to be a part. Her mother tells her that it'll get better, that she'll adjust to being royalty before too much longer. She doesn't believe her…doesn't want to believe her.

"The carriage is ready, Your Highness."

_Your Highness_

She strangles back a growl in the back of her throat that would have made Cain proud of her. They were around her all day long: simpering sycophants who had nothing better to do with themselves. All she wants is to be normal…just a girl again. She wants to run away and be rid of them all. She feels less at home in the palaces than she ever did on the Other Side.

"Please, calm yourself, Your Highness!"

_Your Highness_

Again, someone called her that…again! Enough is enough. She turns on her heel, followed closely by Jeb, who's taken Cain's place temporarily, and storms off to her room. She rips the circlet off her head and throws the hated symbol of her position on the floor, not caring if it dents. She's got to get away from this.

_Your Highness…Your Highness…Your Highness_

Why can't she just be DG? She's never asked to be treated with such deference, and she doesn't want it anymore.


	6. My Light

Terms of Endearment: My Light

"My darling, my Light."

_My Light_

It's a name her mother still calls her, but it confuses her. No one else seems to realize the significance of the fact that it was she who was drawn to the witch in the cave, not Azkedellia. No else seems to notice that she's the one who prefers to sit outside at night and watch the stars, preferring the dark of the dusk to the glaring suns.

If she is her mother's Light, then why does she feel the dark walls closing in around her? Her sister had been released to the light and was the one who takes more pleasure out of being in the light. She feels like she's been put on a pedestal, and she doesn't like it.

"My angel, my Light."

_My Light_

She knows her mother means the best and loves her dearly, but she's grown tired of hearing that term of endearment. She certainly doesn't feel like an angel. Everyone in the palace, even Cain, has noticed that she's out of spirits, at best. She's not happy, and she's moody. She spends most of her free time holed up in the darkened library. That's not exactly the behavior one associates with light.

"I gave my light to save someone very special."

_My Light_

Every time her mother calls her "Light," she's reminded of the price it took to save her life. She reminds herself and her mother that she was the one who insisted on exploring in the cave. She was the one drawn to the darkness. Azkedellia is the one who was always the good child. But her mother simply won't listen and shrugs off the meaning of the prophecy, just like the Sorceress had and Az still does.

_My Light…My Light…My Light_

If she's supposedly light, then why does her world feel dark and grey? Why have her friends abandoned her to figure out who she is on her own?


	7. Little Sister

Terms of Endearment: Little Sister

"The little sister I thought I no longer had…"

_Little Sister_

She remembers the first time those words crossed her sister's lips and the chill down her spine as they were spat from the older girl's mouth. She still can't keep that memory from haunting her, though she knows that her sister wasn't the one actually saying the words. It's the one term of endearment that she likes better now than before.

Now, she talks to her sister almost every day, the one sympathetic ear that she has left. She's the only one who doesn't treat her like a child or show her the cautious deference that she's grown to despise. It surprises her how easily she accepts the friendship of the one person with whom she thought she'd never grow close.

"DG…my lovely little sister."

_Little Sister_

The memory of that day is another that chills her blood. Those words had started with a pseudo-kindness and ended with a bitter rebuke. She closes her eyes, glad that she's sitting in her own bedroom alone and that her now-beloved sister can't see the pain of the memory.

"What's wrong, little sister?"

_Little Sister_

She looks up at brown doe eyes, keeping her back turned to one of her friends who has abandoned her emotionally, only to stay around physically and rub it in. She motions for Cain to stay outside the door, and shuts it behind him, then pours her heart out to Azkedellia, baring every hurt that she's felt over the past annual and a half. Her sister holds her as she cries from the hurt and promises that she'll be there for her little sister.

_Little Sister…Little Sister…Little Sister_

She smiles at Azkedellia, taking refuge in a big sister's love. At least if all of her other friends have abandoned her, here was one friendship that was growing closer and stronger. She just wishes that she can have the others back.


	8. Your Majesty

Terms of Endearment: Your Majesty

"Yes, Your Majesty."

_Your Majesty_

Eight years after the Double Eclipse, she finds that the pain of his indifference has long grown numb. She supposes that was what it was supposed to be like for her as Queen. She had advisors and councilors, and she still had him as her body guard, but she has long since stopped pining for his friendship. Her maid-in-waiting comes in and helps her remove the extravagant gown she'd worn for the coronation, and she dismisses the woman as soon as she's delivered from the heavy layered cake.

Queen Dorothy of the House of Gale… that's who she is now. She can no longer expect friendship from anyone, except maybe her sister, with whom she still shares a close bond. She sighs heavily. At least it doesn't hurt anymore.

"Certainly, Your Majesty."

The raven-headed inventor, who had been one of her mother's closest advisors, gathers up his papers, still keeping his eyes averted from hers after all this time. She doesn't have the luxury of friends now. Neither does he. She accepts it now more gracefully than she had at first, clinging to her sister's friendship like a lifeline.

"Good to see Your Majesty."

At least he can say it with some warmth. Now the liaison from the Viewer peoples, her former companion is genuinely glad to see her. He sees the lingering sadness, and smiles at her. She returns the smile, grateful that she might still have a friend from the old days left.

_Your Majesty…Your Majesty…Your Majesty_

Her life isn't what she wanted it to be. She still wishes she could just be the DG who needed her Tin Man, wishes that she could let her hair down and run wild through the Outer Zone with him, wishes that she could sleep under the stars and trees on his duster. She still misses her advisor's warm brown eyes that beamed when he smiled, misses his misfiring synapses because at least they kept him amiable, misses his tattered clothes that looked better on him than any of his fancy attire hanging in his wardrobe. She still appreciates the Viewer's honesty and warmth, still appreciates that at least he doesn't care so much about her title, still appreciates his amber eyes that light up for her. Her life isn't what she wanted it to be…but she still goes on.

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Author's Notes: I know I kinda flew through the last five chapters of this one, but the plot bunny for it was insistent. Maybe now I can go back to my other projects, lol! If anyone can find the Dune references (there are two) in 'Your Highness' and the Firefly reference in 'Your Majesty,' I'll dedicate the next chapter of "Brighter Days" to them. Which, if you haven't started reading "Brighter Days" yet, check it out! It's a lot lighter than this piece. There's a link for it on my profile page. //points up// Just click on my nome de plume. 


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